System of electric railways of the sectional type of conductors or rails.



Patented May l3, I902.

3 Sheets-Sheet l SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC BAILWAYS OF THE SECTIONAL TYPE OF n70o,|2s.

(No Model.)

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v c. .1. KINTNER. SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC RAILWAYS OF THE SECTIUNAL TYPE OFCUNDUCTURS 0R RAILS.

(Application filed Dec. 2, 1901.) (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Syd 2.

No. 700,l26. Patented May.l3, 1902.

c. J. KINTNEB. I SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC RAILWAYS OF THE. S ECTIONAL TYPE OFCONDUCTOBS 0R RAILS 3 Sheet 8M 3.

(Application filed Dec. 2, 1901.) (N0 Mudel.)

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UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES J. KINTNER, OF NEYV YORK, N. Y.

Y SYSTEM OF ELECTRIC RAILWAYS OF THE SECTIONAL TYPE OF CONDUCTORS 0RRAILS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 700,126, dated May13,1902. Application filed December 2, lQ QI. Serial No. 84,322. (Nomodel.)

electrically-propelled cars traveling over. a:

system of the sectional type in which the sectional rails or conductorsare normally dead or disconnected from any source of electrical.

energy whatever; and to this end it consists in a novel method ofsuccessively looking or connecting the terminals of the sectionalconductors or rails to the working-current feeder or main through theagency of alocal source of applied power or energy at or near the endsof the sectional rails or conductors and in successively releasing theterminals so looked as a car passes over the route and out of thesections, at the same time continuously utilizing a part of the workingcurrent by taking it directly from any live sectionalconductor forpreventing the possibility of connecting any sectional rail or conductorto the current feeder or main adjacent to either end of that over whicha car is for the time being traveling.

My invention has an especial utility in connection with interurban linesof electric railways, railways on elevated structures, in tunnels, or inplaces where there is not a large amount of snrfacetraflic and whereitisdesired to run either single cars or multiple-unit systerns of cars withsafety at enormous speeds.

Myarrangement of looking or connecting the,

terminals of the sectional conductors to the current feeder or main byalocal source of applied power or energy and releasing the same after acar or train reach es the distant end of a section and at the same timepreventinga section in the rearthereof from being made alive while thecar is on the section enables me to vary the length of the sectionsto'suit the demands of this type of railways.

My invention will be fully understood by referring to th'e' accompanyingdrawings, in which a Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View illustrating onetype of apparatus for practicing the :methods hereinafter claimed,theswitch-boxes and the lower part of a trolley-car passing over the routebeing shown in sectional view and the poles and arms for supporting theline conductors of the system in perspective view, the switchingapparatus located in the I switch-boxes and the operating-leverscontrolled by the flanges of the car-wheels, together with the body ofthe car, its trolleypole and trolley being shown in elevational view.Fig. 2 is an enlarged view illustrating one of the switch-boxes insection, the switchoperating mechanism, one of the tram-rails, and thebody and wheels of a tram-car being shown in elevational view. Fig. 3 isa sectional view of the working-current feeder and one of its associatedreleasing conductors united togetherin a singleinsulated cable andadapted to be suspended by line-insulators from the top of theline-poles orburied beneath the ground or located wherever desiredadjacent to the track. Fig. 4 is a view similar in general respects toFig. 1,,illustrating a modified means for practicing the method ofavoiding rear-end collisions between cars traveling over a sectionalsystem of conductors and illustrating also a corresponding sectionalsystem of semaphore and lamp signals as connected therewith and arrangedto further aid in the prevention of rear-end collisions. Fig. 4 is adetail diagrammatic view of a preferred modified arrangement of theswitching-circuits illustrated in Fig. 4, showing also a branch circuitand switch connected to the local switch-controlling battery for thepurpose of permitting thesame to be charged from the current feeder ormain. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a still further modified form ofapparatus adapted, however, for preventing either rear or front endcollisions, a modified arrangement of apparatus and circuit connectionsbeing also shown for enabling a moving car to efiect thelockingconnection between the conducting-terminals of the sectionalthird rails or conductorsand the cur rent feeder or main.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and first to Figs. 1 to 3,inclusive, t represents one of the tram-rails of an electric railway,which constitutes the negative or returnconductor to the power-housegenerator,

(not shown,) and T represents a trolley-car passing thereover, havingthe usual flanged wheels 16 16. 0 represents the working-current feederor main connected to the positive pole of the power-house generator, andr r r are sectional trolley conductors insulated from each other attheir adjacent ends and all supported in the usual manner upon crossarms9 9 9, carried by line-poles 8 8 8. 7 7 7 are releasing-conductorsconnected each at one end permanently to its own particular sectionaltrolley-conductor r and at the other end to the tram-rail t, includingeach in its circuit a releasing-magnet 15, provided with alocking-armature 17, constituting one of the terminals for connectingthe current feeder or main through a branch conductor 1 with itsparticular sectional trolley-conductor r by a branch conductor 2 andyielding conducting-terminal s. The workingcurrent feeder or main 0 andthe releasingconductors 7 are preferably insulated from each other andcombined together in a single insulated cable, as shown in Fig. 3, andwhen used with an overhead-trolley system in the manner illustrated inthe drawings are preferably supported by line-insulators from the topsof the line-poles 8 8, as current-feeders of this character are usuallysupported. SI) represents the switch-box inclosi n g the switchingterminals and magnets, and 1) represents the cover therefor, preferablyof diving-bell shape, secured to the top of the box by bolts, as shownin Fig. 2. 10 is a plunger or pin accurately fitted with in a sleevecast integral with the box-cover and supported in its upper position bya strong spiral spring 11, said pin being insulated at its lowerend, asshown, and

supporting at its upper end the free end of a pivoted operating-lever a,adapted to be depressed by the fianges of the wheels 16 when the car Tpasses thereover. The strength of the spiral springs is preferably suchthat these plungers cannot be forced downward by the weight of a personand only by the car wheels as they pass thereover. 12 is an oil-cup atthe lower end of the sleeve, through which the plunger 10 moves, saidoil-cup being provided with ducts and a fibrous packing, as shown, sothat the movements of the plungers will be perfectly free andwater-tight. 13 is a screw adapted when withdrawn from a hole in thebox-cover to permit of the insertion of oil within the cup 12. 14represents the trolley, carried by a trolley-arm in the usual mannerupon the top of the car T. The operation of this form of the apparatus,adapted, as shown in this figure of the drawings, for preventing'rear-cnd collisions only, is as follows: The

route is shown as being divided into sections A B C, the. The car '1 ispassing from left to right in the direction of the arrow over theswitch-box Sb at the beginning of section B, and its trolley 14 is justpassing off the sectional conductor 7' on the left. The flange of thefront wheel 16 has just depressed the operating-lever (1, so that theyieldin g conducting-terminal s was forced into its lowest position,thereby allowing the conducting-armature 17 to lock it in this positionafter the car T has passed on, it being understood that these terminalsare normaliy out of contact with each other, as shown in Fig. 2.Consequently the circuit is now locked or closed from the current feederor main 0, through the branch conductor 1 at the beginning of section Bto the conducting-armature 17, through the yielding conducting-terminals in the switch-box Sb, branch conductor 2, to the sectionaltrolley-conductor r of section B. An additional or branch circuit isalso closed through the releasing-conductor 7 to the magnet 15 in theswitch-box Sb at the beginning of section A and to the tram-rail orreturn-conductort at that point, thereby energizing said magnet andcausing its locking-armature 17 to release the yieldingconducting-terminal s in that switch-box, it having been left in lockedposition while the car T was passing over section A, so that it assumesits upper or disconnected position and willmaintain this position solong as the sectional conductor r of section B is made alive in themanner described, so that any car entering at the beginning of section Awill not be supplied with current from that section, owing to the factthat the conducting-armature 17 is continuously held out of the path ofthe yielding conducting-terminal s by a source of applied power orenergy, in this instance a part of the working current acting throughthe magnet 15 and upon said armature. Gonsequently the car will stop forlack of current. As the car T passes on and enters the next section (notshown) the wheels 16 will in like manner actuate the operating-lever ain the switch-box at that point, connecting the conducting-terminalstogether in the manner already described and closing the circuit throughthe releasing-conductor7 to the magnet 15in the switch-box Sb of sectionB, where the car is now located, thereby releasing the yielding terminal3 and maintaining the conducting-armature 17 in its front position, sothat the sectional conductor 7' for section B is made dead orinert untilthe car passes out of the next section in advance of the section overwhich it is passing. When the terminal is thus released in theswitch-box Sb at the end of section B as the car passes out of section0, it will be apparent that the armature 17 in the switch-box at sectionA will be restored to its normal position, owing to the absence ofcurrent in the releasing-conductor 7, so that the sectional conductor 1'of section A is now in condition to receive current when theoperating-lever a is again depressed at this point by the next incomingcar in the rear. It will be noticed that at the instant theoperating-lever a was depressed, so as to connect the sectionalconductor 0 of section B to the current-feeder, the trolley 14 assumedthe position shown, ready to enter the next sectional conductor 1' inadvance, which has been made aliveby the switch over which the car isnow passing.

' Referring now to the modified form of apparatus illustrated in Fig. 4of the drawings,

0 represents thecurrent-feeder; 25, one line of tram-rails; r r r, thesectional trolley-con ductors; T, the tram-car a a a, theswitch-operating levers, and 10 the plungers or pins for operating theswitches. s is a yielding armature constituting the movable terminal forconnecting'the branch conductors 1 and 2 to the sectionaltrolley-conductor. 17 is a conducting-terminal for the yielding terminals. s is a metallic contact-plate carried by and insulated fromthemovable terminal 3 by a block of insulating material 1'. e e are fixedcontacts in the path of the contact-plate s.fisaswitch-operatingelectromagnet, and w a conductor connected to alocal battery bat and the switch-operating magnet f. is a releasingmagnet, the armature of which is adapted to close on its back stop thelocal circuit of the battery ba, through the magnet f, when thecontact-plate s is held in its forward position upon the fixed contactse e. 7 7 are releasing-conductors,as before, and 18 18 dan ger signalsconsisting of semaphores and lamps in multiple circuit with thereleasing-magnets 15 15, said danger-signals being preferablysubstantially like those disclosed in a prior application filed by me inthe United States Patent Office on the th day of September,

.1901, and bearing Serial No. 76,564. The operationof this form of theapparatus is as follows: The trolley-car T is passing oversection'B andis receiving current from the sectional trolley-conductor 0" thereof.When it passed the switch-box at the beginning of section B, the flangesof the wheels 16 depressed the operating-lever a and caused the plunger10 to force the movable terminal 8 into its lower or operative positionin contact with the terminal 17. At the same time a local circuit wasclosed from the battery ba through the conductor to, contact-plate s,magnet f, armature-lever of magnet 15, said armature being now on itsback stop. Consequently after the car passed the switch the movableterminal 8 was continuously held by virtue of the application'of thislocal source of applied power or energy. At the same timea branchcircuit was closed by the releasingconductor 7 to the switch-box at theentrance of section A, as shown by the arrows, through ing the movableor yielding terminal 8 and,

looking it in its forward or closed position.

' When this occurs, the releasing-magnet 15 at the beginning of sectionB will be energized in the same manner as was the like magnet at thebeginning of section A when the car entered section B, thus releasingthe movable or yielding terminal 3 and simultaneously holding thearmature of the magnet 15 continuously in its forward position until thecar passes out of section 0. Should any car follow the car which is nowupon section B, the motorman of said car T will on approaching. thebeginning of section A observe the danger-signal 18, displayed in thenature of a semaphore in daytime or of a lamp at nighttime, there beingone of said danger-signals at each switch, as before indicated, and eachactuated by a partof the working current flowing throughreleasing-conductor 7.

In Fig. P I have illustrated a preferred modified form of arrangement ofcircuits to be applied in connection with the system illustrated in Fig.4:. It will be noted on examination of Fig. 4 that should a motormanfail to observe the danger-signal 18 at the beginning of section A andrun past the switch the car-wheels of his car will actuate theopcrating-lever a and depress the terminal 8 to the full extent, therebymomentarily closing the circuit from the current-feederby branchconductor 1, terminal 17, and releasing-con ductor 7' to the distant endof the section in the rear of section A, consequently releasing theterminal 3, which was held up at that point when the car entered thatsection. It would appear, therefore, that a car might enter said sectionand make it alive, so that it might proceed and ultimately collide withthe car which had previously passed into section A. In order to avoidany possibility of this nature, the modified arrangement illustrated inFig. 4 was devised. In this modified form the contact-plate s is locatednear the middle of the terminal 8, and the conducting-terminal 17, forthe working current is located near the outer or free end thereof,thereby largely increasing the distance between the two terminals whenthe working circuit is open. It will also be seen that the circuit isnot closed between the terminals and fixed terminal 17 by the operationof the car-wheels upon the lover a. by the plate 5 between the fixedcontacts e e, conductor w, and battery bat, so that when a car ispassing over a preceding section and the armaturedever of magnet 15 isheld in its forward position, as shown, there will be no closure of thecircuit from the current-feeder to and through the releasing-conductor 7to the switch-box in the rear. Therefore that seetional conductor willremain dead until the sectional conductor in advance of it has been madealive. When the route is clear in advance and the armature-lever ofmagnet 15- is on its back stop, the magnetf will be .ener: gized whenthe car-wheel 16 depresses the lever in the manner shown, andconsequently the armature of the magnet f will be drawn The localcircuit is closed, however,

forward to its full extent, so as to place the free end of the terminalsin contact with the terminal 17, thereby connecting the workingcurrentfeeder ormain to the sectional conductor in advance. In this figure ofthe draw ings' I have illustrated how the local battery ba may be of thestorage-battery type and charged from time to time by the workingcurrent from the current feeder or main through branch conductors w wand switch sw, said circuit and switch being connected to thecurrent-feeder on one side and the tramrails on the other, the necessaryresistancebox (not shown) being of course supplied when necessary.

Referring now=to Fig. 5, I will describe a still further modified formof apparatus adapted to practice my invention. I have illustrated inthis form of the apparatus the manner in which collisions may beprevented either in the rear or in the front. 0 is the working-currentfeeder, t the tram-rails, and r 1 'r the sectional third rails orconductors, 1 and 2 being branch conductorsand 17 and s the terminalsfor connecting the sectional third rails or conductors to the currentfeeder or main through said branch conductors. In this instance in placeof the plungers 10 and the operating levers 0., adapted to bemechanically actuated by the wheels of a moving car, as illustrated inFigs. 1 and at, I have substituted a difierent type of locally-appliedpower or energy consisting of electromagnets f f, adapted to operate twosets of movable or yielding terminals s,and to place the same inconnection with a hook or detent at either end of a locking terminal orarmature 17, said electromagnets being located, respectively, incircuits 3 3, connected each at one end to the tram-rail and at theother to short sectional rails or conductors 5 5, located about twoinches below and on opposite sides of the adjoining ends of thesectional third rails or conductors, which adjoining ends are connecteddirectly to the yielding or movable terminals 3 by the branch conductors2 2. The releasing-magnets 15 are of horseshoe type. Thereleasing-conductors '7 are connected, respectively, to the adjacentends of the next sectional conductors in advance and in the rear and areincluded in circuit with the individual coils wound around each core ofthe magnet and ultimately to the tramrail or return-conductor, each coilhaving sufficient magnetizing capacity to fully saturate the entirehorseshoe-core and act upon the movable or yielding terminal 17. Thetrolley14 is, by preference, of the roller type, having a flange on oneside of greater diameter than the flange on the other side thereof,which flange is adapted to extend downward and bridge the space betweenthe short conductors or contacts 5 5 as it passes over them, the flangeof smaller diameter passing over the other short rails Without touchingthem. The operation is as follows: The car T is now passing over sectionB and approaching section 0 in the direction of the arrow. As it leftsection A the flange of the trolley 14 bridged the circuit between thethird rail r of section A, which was at that time alive, and the shortsectional conductor 5 on the farther side of said rail, thereby closingthe circuit through the branch conductor 3, electromagnet f on the rightto the tram-rail 25, thus causing the movable or yieldingterminal s tobe drawn into its forward position, where it was locked behind thereleasing-terminal 17, as shown. At the same time a branch of thecircuit was elosed through the releasing-conductor 7 in the rear in thedirection of the arrows to the right-hand coil of magnet 15 at theentrance of section A, thereby energizing the magnet and causing itsarmature or movable terminal 17 to be heldin its upper positon, asshown, thus releasing the yielding terminal on the right, previouslylocked at that point when the car entered section A, and maintaining themovable terminal in its upper position so long as the car '1 remainsupon section B. A still further branch of the circuit was closed byconductor 7 from the distant end of the rail -r by the forwardreleasing-conductor 7 to the left-hand coil of the magnet 15 at thebeginning of section D, thereby energizing that magnet and causing itsarmature or movable terminal 17 to be held in its upper position, asshown. It will therefore be apparent that should a car follow the car Ton passing into section A the motor will be deprived of any workingcurrent, and the car will therefore stop, thus avoiding any possibilityof rearend collision. For a like reason any car coming in the oppositedirection and approaching the distant end of section 0 will when itpasses out of section D be deprived of any current and will thereforestop, so that a front-end collision is avoided. When it is desired torun the carsin a reverse direction, it is only necessary to lift orremove the trolley 14 from the third rail or conductor 1' and rotate itthrough an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees, so as to place thelarger flange on the other side of the third rail in order that inadvancing from right to left said flange may pass between the thirdrails or conductors and in such manner as to close the circuitinsuccession to the left-hand magnets f, and thereby connect the left-handterminals .9 to the movable terminals or armatures 17, the circuitconnections to the releasing-coils being, the same as before, inopposite directions to the adjacent ends of the two adjacent sectionalthird rails to that over which any car may be located.

Although in all of the modified forms of apparatus disclosedin theaccompanying drawings and adapted to practice the novelmethodshereinafter claimed I continuously utilize a partof the working currentfor preventing the switch at the distant end of any sectional conductoradjacent to that over which a car is for the time being passing frombeing operative to an incoming car, I do not limit this feature of myinvention to this special arrangement, as the same result mightobviously be effected in a number-of ways coming within the scope of myclaimsas by the application of a locally-applied source of 1 powerorenergy which would continuously hold the switch in its open positionuntil the car passed out of the section in advance and might then bereleased either by the momentary closure of the working circuit or by amomentaryclosure of an entirely-independent source of electrical energysuch that the cal source of applied power would be disconnected from theswitch, so as to leave theterminals in their normal or separatedposition, and such local source of applied powerorenergy might either bein the nature of locking-levers adapted "to hold the movable terminal inits open position or of an electromagnet and local battery controlled,as 'be-' fore indicated, from the outgoing end of the section over whichthe car is passing, and my claims being methods aredesigned toiuclude'all such obvious constructions as I would be applicable in thisconnection.

I do not limit myself in the practice of the methodclaimshereinafter'made to the use of the specific types of apparatus disclosedin the accompanying drawings forautomatically connecting or locking thesectional conductors or third rails of a sectional system of electricrailways into connection with the current feeder or main by asource oflocallyapplied'power or energy and simultaneously continuouslypreventing any adjoining sectional rail or conductor from being madealive through the agency of' an additional source of applied power, asmy claims are generic with relation to these features.

I am aware that it has heretofore been proposed to automatically holdtheterminals of sectional third rails or conductors of such a system inelectrical connection with a current feeder or main through the agencyof an applied power independent of the working current and to preventany sectional con- ;ductor in the rearjof a sectional conductor overwhich a car is passing from being rendered alive by utilizing a part ofthe working current during the time a car is on said section, asdisclosed in United States patent to M. J. Wightman, No. 430,329, ofJ1une' 17,

1890, and I make no claim hereinafter broad enough to include such amethod of operation or such a structure as therein shown and described,the source of applied power in that instance being a separategeneratorlocated at the power-house and operatively connected with all of thesectional conductors in such manner asto-give to them fafcertain amountof current potential.

My invention. differs both in its method of operation and in thestructural apparatus for carrying out such method from that disclosed inthe before-mentioned patent, first, in that all of the sectionalra'ilsor'conductors and avoiding collisions.

the releasing-conductors of my systemare normally absolutely dead orwithout current potential; second, in that the terminals of thesectional rails or conductors are held in locked "or closed position 'inconnection with the current feeder or main by a local source of appliedpower or energy. wholly independent of or distinct from the workingcurrent. Nor do I make any claim hereinafter broad enough to include theapplication of the principle of connecting or locking the sectionalconductors to a working-current feeder or main through the agency of alocal source of applied power or energy and releasing the same by a partof the working current as a car passes out'of the section over which itis traveling,as this feature is fully disclosed in prior United Statespatents granted to. me' on December 26, 1893, numbered 511,627," andJanuary 9, 1894, numbered 5l2,444,'andalso in British Patent No.0,123-ef 1894, granted to I-liram S.-l\IaXim. In British patentto Maxim,however, the general structural arrangementof the means for locking theterminals of the sectional conductors'to the current feederor main andof releasing the same by apart of the working current is very similartomy arrangement of circuits, even 'to' the extent of connecting thereleasing-circuits directly to the sectional conductors andthe tram-railor return-cond uctor, with this dilference;how-

'ever,thatthe patentee provides additional these modified forms of theapparatus may be readily adapted for preventing front-end collisions bysimply duplicating the apparatus and the circuit connections therefor inthe same manner that they'are duplicated in Fi 5, with this difierence,however, that the opcrating-levers a should be actuated not by thetram-wheels of the car, but by a flanged trolley-wheel or anentirely-independent operat ing-wheel carried beneath the car, the arrangeme'nt of circuits and switching'devices' being such that when theflanged trolleywheel is moving in one direction it will operatemechanically thoselevers located on the same side of the third rail withthe flange and when running in the other direction the levers upon theother side thereof, upon the supposition, of course, that the trolleyhas been reversed.

I make'no claim in the present application to any of'the apparatusillustratedin' the accompanying drawings, this application, ashereinbefore indicated, being directed to methods of operation and notto any specific apparatus for efiecting such methods.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. The described method of avoiding collisions between cars passing overan electric railway having a working source of currentsupply and asectional system of normally dead working conductors, consisting incansing the moving cars to automatically lock the sectional workingconductors into connection with the working source of current-supply insequence as they pass over the route, and to automatically release saidconductors in like sequence as the ends of the adjoining sectionalconductors are passed, simultaneously utilizing a part of the workingcurrent taken directly from a live section over or by which a car ispassing to continuously prevent any circuit connection whatever betweena sectio'nal conductor immediately in the rear of the live section andthe current feeder or main, until the car has passed out of the sectionon which it is located.

2. The described method of avoiding collisions between cars passing inopposite directions over an electric railway having a working source ofcurrent-supply and a sectional system of normally dead workingconductors; consisting in causing the moving cars to automatically lockthe sectional working eonductors into connection with the working sourceof current-supply in sequence as they pass over the route, and toautomatically release said conductors in like sequence as the ends ofthe adjoining sectional conductors are passed; simultaneously utilizinga part of the working current to prevent the sectional conductorsimmediately in the rear and in the advance of any car from beingconnected to the working source of current-supply until said car haspassed out of the section on which it is located.

3. The described method of avoiding collisions between cars passing overan electric railway having a working source of currentsupply and asectional system of normally dead working conductors, consisting inmaintaining each sectional conductor in electrical connection with theworking source of current-supply, while a car is passing over or by it,by a local source of applied power or energy independent of or distinctfrom the working source of current-supply; releasing said conductors insequence as the car passes out of the successive sections andsimultaneously utilizing a part of the working current taken directlyfrom a live section over or by which a car is passing to continuouslyprevent any circuit connection whatever between a sectional conductorimmediately in the rear of the live section and the current feeder ormain, until the car has passed out of the section on which it islocated.

4. The described method of avoiding collisions between cars passing overan electric railway having a working source of'currentsupply and asectional system of normally dead working conductors; consistinginmaintaining each sectional conductor in electrical connection with aworking source of currentsupply while a car is passing over or by it bya local source of applied power or energy independent or distinct fromthe working source of current-supply; successively releasing saidconductors through the agency of a part of the working current takendirectly from a live section over or by which a car is passing andcontinuously utilizing the same to pre -vent any circuit connectionwhatever between a sectional conductor adjacent to the live section andthe current feeder or main until the car has passed out of the sectionon which it is traveling.

' 5. The described method of preventing front or rear end collisionsupon an electric railway having a working source of current-supplylocated at a power-house and a sectional system of normally dead workingconductors extending over the route; consistingin maintaining eachsectional conductor in electrical connection with the working source ofourrent-supply while a car is passing over or by it, through the agencyof an applied power or energy, independent of or distinct from theworking current; releasing or disconnecting said sectional conductorsfrom the working source of current-supplyin sequence and simultaneouslyutilizing a part of the working current for preventing the adjacentsectional conductors in the rear and advance of any sectional conductorthus made alive from being connected to the working source ofcurrent-supply.

6. The described method of avoiding collisions between cars passing overan electric railway having a working source of currentsupply and asectional system of normally dead sectional conductors; consisting incansing the cars to connect the sectional conductors to the currentfeeder or main as they pass over the same, maintaining said. connectionby a source of locally-applied power or energy, independent or distinctfrom the working source of curren t-su ppl y; successively releasingsaid conductors through the agency of a part of the working currenttaken directly from a live section over or by which a car is passing andcontinuously utilizing the same to prevent any circuit connectionwhatever between a sectional conductor adjacent to the live section andthe current feeder or main until the car has passed out of the sectionon which it is traveling.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHARLES .I. KINTNER.

Witnesses:

JAMES P. J. MORRIS, M. F. KEATING.

